David nodded and returned to the overhead projector to continue his speech.
Suddenly, one of the other junior associates, a gangly man in a $4,000 suit, nudged Madison’s chair with the bottom of his shoe. “Already gotten started partying it up is more like it,” he muttered with a grin. “I can smell the booze coming from all the way over—”
In a flash of blonde hair and Prada, his chair scooted forward, and Madison was gripping him firmly by the balls. My mouth fell open with a silent gasp, but no one else around the table had any clue what was happening. The presentation, in the same flat monotone, carried on in front, and whatever madness was happening on my end was beneath the table and out of sight.
“I’m sorry, Henry.” Madison offered the wide-eyed man a sweet smile, her whisper carrying only as far as the next two chairs. “I missed most of that. Could you repeat?”
Henry’s face turned a delicate shade of green as he froze beneath her vise-like grasp.
“I-I was only kidding, Madison. I swear. Just a joke.”
Her fingers tightened, the manicured points digging into the overpriced fabric of his pants. “And what have I told you about making jokes at my expense?”
His spine stiffened as his fingers clenched manically over his armrest. “I was most certainly not... I mean, I didn’t mean to...” Henry whispered desperately. “I was talking about your friend, only teasing, and—”
“Precisely. She’s my friend, and she is with me.” Madison leaned forward in her chair, staring coldly at the giant man she still had firmly in her control. “Is that understood?”
Perspiration rolled down the sides of his face, and he nodded as quickly as he possibly could. “Yeah, yeah. I got it. She’s with you.”
Madison’s smile returned, and her hand disappeared. “Good. We won’t have any trouble then.” She then turned around as if nothing had ever happened.
As the presentation came to a close, I was still openly gawking, Henry was trying to hold back tears, and by the time David put his notes away and shut down the machine, the rest of the room was getting up to leave.
I scrambled to follow them, wondering vaguely how the perfect first day of my perfect new job had flown so badly off the rails. Madison made a beeline for the door, and I assumed she wanted to have a private huddle with me in the elevator to discuss Henry’s misfortune. Instead, I lingered casually in the hallway, stalling for time by pretending to check my phone.
Rob
ert was the last person to walk out, just as I hoped. The second he did, I slipped my phone back into my purse and stepped directly in his path.
“Oh, hey.”
He stopped quickly to avoiding running into me, his dark eyes sweeping over me in a way that made me just as weak in the knees as I was the night before. “It’s Della, right?”
Seriously? We’re alone now, mister. Why don’t you fess up to what we did instead of continuing this stupid little guessing game?
Chapter 9
I glanced quickly around to make sure the coast was clear before returning a little grin. “Yep. It seems you learned my name after all, Robert,” I said, with heavy emphasis on the moniker he wouldn’t give me before. I then took a step back and waited, just watching his face with heightened attention as a little smile, almost a smirk, played around the corners of my lips.
Um...still waiting.
When he said nothing, my grin disappeared, and my muted panic returned. I had hoped for success in breaking the ice, but his handsome face went blank the second I opened my mouth. His eyebrows lifted slightly, and he folded his strong arms across his chest. It was only then that I realized what he was doing: He was waiting, too, for some sort of explanation, to make sense of the words I’d said.
An embarrassed flush crept up the sides of my neck, and I lowered my voice, leaning conspiratorially closer just to make sure we wouldn’t be heard. “Last night... You said no names, didn’t you?” I stared up at him, searching those vacant eyes for aid. “I tried to get you to tell me at the very end, but you—”
“Miss Jones...” He took a deliberate step back, a little line of confusion creasing his brow. “Last night? I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Whatever lingering butterflies I might have had vanished on the spot as I took a sudden step back myself, feeling like someone had assaulted me with an Ice Bucket Challenge I didn’t want to take. A feeling of cold dread swept across my entire body, trembling me in my stilettos. “How can you...” I started to ask but could only trail off as his eyes locked with mine.
One thing I’d already determined about the mysterious Mr. Cross was that it was impossible to know what he was thinking, impossible to know what was going on in that amazing head of his. He seemed to be telling the truth, as there was not even a hint of a lie anywhere on his poker face, not one glimmer of mischief. He gave me no warning to keep silent, just seemingly honest confusion that seemed to be exacerbating with every passing moment of our staring contest.
I was pretty confused myself. How could he possibly not know? He was there, just like I was, I thought, slowly reaching up to feel the necklace dangling above my chest. He was just as naked as I was, and neither of us was drunk enough to forget it. For a split second, I was forced to consider the possibility that he could have a major mental problems. God, he’s like that guy on Split...and I climbed up on the roof to sleep with the better half!
It then occurred to me, as I noticed a placard with a logo bearing his name, that he was, in fact, the CEO of Britain’s largest active company. There was no way he could manage such an impossible feat while being crazy at the same time. People would talk. People would stop him. The media would have a heyday.
He wasn’t crazy, and I really didn’t think he was lying either. Somehow, for some reason, he simply didn’t remember.
“Look, I’m sorry, but I really must be going.” He flashed a tight smile before backing to the elevators. “Good luck here, Della. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”